Butter Poached Fish

Butter poached monkfish became a favorite of mine during a trip to Disney a few years back. This is a simple cooking method for fish that will become a favorite of yours soon. Sure, a lot of people butter poach lobster, but you can butter poach any type of fish.

I bet I know what you are thinking, how can you butter poach fish? Butter poaching is a very easy method of cooking fish. This may seem like a difficult way to cook, but I promise, this is simple cooking which will give you maximum flavor. I like to season my butter with a touch of lemon juice, and a small shallot diced up. The fish cooks in the seasoned liquid and it tastes heavenly.

Butter poached lobster is a classic dish you will find in many expensive restaurants. Monkfish is also known as poor man’s lobster. It is a tender white fish that has tastes a bit like lobster. I have gotten monkfish at the Asian market, but I have also poached cod and halibut with great results. This has become one of my favorite ways to prepare fish.

The fish cooks very gently, and it becomes flavorful and buttery. I think it is almost a fool proof way to make fish by cooking it like this. The fish cooks gently and it is hard to overcook. For this recipe I like to use unsalted butter. I want to be able to control the level of salt when the fish is cooked. I like to finish this recipe with a touch of Fleur de Sel or a touch of sea salt. I think both of these two types of salt add something extra special to the fish.

When I butter poach fish I like to serve it up with a light side dish like roasted asparagus, or perhaps a salad. I think if you try butter poaching fish just once, you will be cooking it like this more often.

Butter Poached Fish

Ingredients

12ounces fish

6ounces unsalted butter (divided use)

1tablespoon lemon juice

2teaspoons finely diced shallots

finelychopped fresh herbs such as chives - optional

Instructions

Heat two tablespoons of the butter in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add chopped shallots and cook until they are translucent. Make sure that the butter does not brown. Add lemon juice and remaining butter. When the butter has melted, add the fish. Gently place the fish into the pan. The cooking liquid should cover the fish 2/3 up the side of the fish. Turn the temperature high and allow the fish to cook for three minutes once the cooking liquid begins to boil. Turn the heat down and allow to cook on low for an additional minute.

About Stephanie

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Hi there, just a comment on your method, when melting the butter you should actually avoid bringing it to a boil as that will break the butter’s emulsification and it will separate into oil and fat, what you end up with is not butter poached but rather oil fried. To butter poach you need to start by adding a tablespoon of water to the pan bringing it to a simmer then melting the butter in the pan while keeping the temp below 190 degrees, if it boils you’ve messed up. The reason butter poaching is such a good method is because of the low heat, a boil is not low heat.

Ben? Why are you such an asshole? She worked hard to make us this recipe with photos. Is that you justify your meaningless little life? By tearing others down? You could have asked for clarification on amounts.

Ben, I said 6 ounces of butter in the ingredients. I asked for the person to saute the shallots in 2 tablespoons of butter, and then add the remaining butter. I will tighten up my horribly written recipe. Let me know if you need anything else.

Just letting you know that I featured this in my May round-up of Deliciously Healthy Low-Carb Recipes, which was posted this morning. Love the recipe; I hope a lot of my readers will click over here and try it!

We have settled on grilling the salmon, indirect, for 9 min per side, covered with the vents wide open. We always seem to come back to one of a handful of Asian sauces we really like. Marinate 45 min in the sauce and slap it on the grill. The Weber Grill has made many folks, like me, look like trained chef’s. We have used the cedar planks before and they are wonderful but now they cost about as much as the Salmon!

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CopyKat.com is the creation of Stephanie Manley. Stephanie started publishing recipes on the web in 1995 as a means to capture her family recipes in a format that they would not be thrown away. Over the years she has developed many recipes that taste just like restaurant recipes. read more